PARENTS who helped their two young children escape from a house fire before they fell unconscious remain in intensive care, according to a church minister.

The couple, named locally as Dr Jennifer Christina and Santosh Benjamin, are at separate hospitals after being rescued by firefighters from the blaze that engulfed their home in Grant Road, Wealdstone, at 4.15am yesterday.

Their families are flying in from abroad to be at their bedside: Jennifer is at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington and her husband at Northwick Park Hospital in Watford Road, Harrow, where he was put into an induced coma.

The fire started in the kitchen and Jennifer, a doctor, lowered three-month-old Rachel and her other daughter, aged three years, through the window to neighbours below before she and Benjamin, 35, who works for software giant Microsoft, were overcome by smoke.

She was found collapsed in the front bedroom and he in the rear bathroom of the two-storey terraced house by four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus.

Both children suffered smoke inhalation and were taken to the same hospital as their father.

Martin Whaley, minister at Wealdstone Baptist Church in High Street, Wealdstone, confirmed the couple were "very active members of the church" and Mr Benjamin ran the church's website.

He said the hospitals told him Mrs Christina's and Mr Benjamin's conditions had not changed over night and that their relatives are due to arrive today from overseas.

Mark Ritson, watch manager at Harrow Fire Station, said: "We rescued two adults from the property and a baby and a child were out before our arrival.

"It was a serious fire. The fire was in the kitchen of the property. There was a lot of smoke in the road and lots of neighbours milling around.

"It was very difficult to gain access to the property and we had to break down the front door.

"The man was found in the rear bathroom and the woman in the front bedroom.

"They were both unconscious and had been overcome by smoke. The rescue took under five minutes.

"The children had been lowered to neighbours through the window."

Thirty firefighters, from Harrow, Stanmore, Wembley and Willesden, spent the next four hours fighting the flames.

Mr Ritson said: "There's damage to the downstairs of the property and smoke damage to the entire property.

"There were no smoke alarms in the house. If they had had smoke alarms they may have got out of the property far earlier.

"We can come round fit smoke alarms for free. Anyone can get a home safety visit from London Fire Brigade by calling 08000 28 44 28 or visiting the LFB website."